Velhorod, the City of Eons

History

What is the history of the Velhorod? If you are coming for hard facts, I cannot help you. But I can give you the finest of conjectures and derivations, a plethora of best guesses. Will that suffice?
- Herosas, Elven Historian

The history of the city is difficult to grasp. It is obvious the city is ancient, with ancient stone roads and buildings, overbuilt or still laying in ruins. One single journey in the Undercity will tell you that entire districts are buried underneath foundations of Velhorod. But who is to say that the Mists have brought and taken away?

But there are a few things the learned men of Velhorod can agree on.

The Elder Ones

Katalyn felt some trepidation as she looked down at the black stone stairwell leading even deeper into the Undercity. Ivo’s torch could be seen as he walked slowly and carefully down them. The vulture-like Scivian with their characteristic hunched-back moved with a deceptive caution. She followed after him. After all, he had been a suitable guide so far.

The torch sputtered and cast light on carving in the black wet walls. Katalyn paused to peer at them. The script was unfamiliar to her, and the relief depicted a imposing figure, six arms each holding a blade, with a fierce but noble leonine face.

“The Elders, Ka-ta-lyn,” the Scivian said, stopping as she stopped, speaking in the slow cadence she had gone used to amongst the Scivians, “The Elder Ones. Long gone, never seen, no one knows how long, a great mystery. What you seek, we will find in their old halls, so very far beneath.”

The oldest and deepest ruins of the City bear the images of the Elder Ones. This race is long dead, or at least long departed. Leonine in face, with four arms, we know them only through statues and crumbling mosaics. They once built vast structures, and only a few of them survive. The Great Arch is one of the few that hasn’t crumbled into rubble or been buried by time underneath the city.

Did the Elder Ones build the city? Perhaps. Some speculate that The Mists are but an echo of whatever the Elder Ones did to make themselves disappear forever.

Grey Times

It is unclear when the City took its current form. There are tales of the City being a fortress of demons and devils. Others where it was occupied by a great Archon of light and made into its shrine. That it was the chosen meeting ground of djinn. All these things may be true – the eons were very long and had plenty of room for such things. Buildings of every style and every race can be found lingering in the City.

The Demon King

The Reign of the Demon King marks the beginning of recent history in Velhorod. The Demon King once had a name, but everywhere it once was, it has been chipped away, scratched off or destroyed. A thousand stories are told of him, but none can be trusted. It is said he ruled from the Black Tower, and decorated it with the entrails of his victims. It is said he ruled from a throne of bones and was half-fiend and half-dragon.

Whatever the truth of it, centuries ago, there was a great uprising in the city. A confederation of families who were once his servants and go-betweens turned on him, and fighting filled the streets. In the end, the Demon King was destroyed.

If he ever existed, that is.

The Aristocracy of Magi

The leaders of the revolt were the Thirteen Magi, a confederation of elven and human aristocrats.